Nurses, midwives and the requirement for "appropriate" professional indemnity insurance

The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 (the National Law) imposes the obligation on nurses and midwives to have appropriate professional indemnity insurance coverage as a condition of applying for, or renewing, their registration to practise in Australia. The National Law also empowers the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia to develop a registration standard and guidelines in relation to professional indemnity insurance and to enforce compliance through the registration process. Though not previously a requirement for their registration, nurses and midwives must now understand the nature and extent of the professional indemnity insurance under which they practise and declare that they will not practise their profession unless they have appropriate professional indemnity insurance arrangements which cover the full scope of their practice. This column provides an overview of the obligations and responsibilities imposed on nurses and midwives under the National Law and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia's registration standard and guidelines. It is imperative that nurses and midwives understand the National Law provisions and the standard and guidelines developed by the Board before making decisions about their professional indemnity insurance and self-declaring that they have "appropriate" professional indemnity arrangements in place.